ESPN is known as the premier broadcaster for sports in the United States. The network televises games for the NFL, NBA, and NHL, three of the fourth major professional sports leagues in the country.
However, the “worldwide leader in sports” has been forced to operate without one of its most important members throughout the first part of the hockey season, according to Awful Announcing.
Sean McDonough, the network’s lead play-by-play voice hasn’t called a single game yet this season, although he’s been scheduled to call a handful of them.
He has now been confirmed to miss Thursday night’s USA-Finland game in the Four Nations Face-Off. ESPN changed its schedule to slot in Bob Wischusen to handle play-by-play duties next to analyst Ray Ferraro.
McDonough’s absences have been noticed around the sport.
“Bob Wischusen has replaced Sean McDonough and will now call tonight’s USA-Finland game at 8:00 p.m. ET on ESPN. Previously—in addition to tonight’s game—McDonough had been scheduled to call an ABC Hockey Saturday game in each of the past two weeks but was replaced by Mike Monaco, who stated that McDonough was feeling ‘under the weather.’
“Additionally, McDonough was originally scheduled to call the Bruins-Panthers game on opening night before Hurricane Milton impacted travel, resulting in him having yet to call a game this season,” noted Braylon Breeze on Twitter.
NEWS: Bob Wischusen has replaced Sean McDonough and will now call tonight’s USA-Finland game at 8:00 p.m. ET on ESPN.
Previously—in addition to tonight’s game—McDonough had been scheduled to call an ABC Hockey Saturday game in each of the past two weeks but was replaced by Mike…
— Braylon Breeze (@Braylon_Breeze) February 13, 2025
Hopefully, McDonough can get back to the broadcast booth soon.
About Qwame Skinner
Qwame Skinner has loved both writing and sports his entire life. In addition to his sports coverage at Comeback Media, Qwame writes novels, and his debut; The First Casualty, an adult fantasy, is out now.